Metro basically barred enforcement in the city after DC decriminalized fare evasion. Cops could no longer arrest fare evaders, just issue them a $50 citation, but WMATA argued they had no ability to actually issue a binding citation under the new scheme. Supposedly this has finally been resolved, with the DC government itself being the ones printing the citations and providing them to WMATA.

I am curious to see how this plays out. In the past, much of the controversy around enforcement of fare evasion was around things that happened when people refused to stop for police or resisted attempts to cite them. This led to some violent altercations and controversy over the level of force being used when the underlying offense was just not paying a $3.50 fare and for which the fine, before resisting arrest, etc, was only $100. People will undoubtedly refuse to comply with attempts to issue a citation, and what happens then? Do the police escalate and arrest for failure to comply when the underlying offense isn’t criminal? We’ll find out, and I imagine it won’t be without controversy.